Machine for labeling bottles, &amp; c.



No. 628,307. Patented July 4, I899.

s. FYFE.

MACHINE FOB LABELING BOTTLES, 8w.

(Apnlicatiun filed July 16. 1898.)

4 Sheets -Shaet 1.

(No Model.)

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N04. 628,307. Patented July 4 1399-.

S. FYFE.

MACHINE FOR LABELING sonuz, m. (Application filed July 16, 1898.)

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

n2 mains PETIIRS m. mama-Lame" w-snmson u c No. 628,307. Patented July 4, I899. S. FYFE.

MACHINE FUR LABELING BOTTLES, &c.

(Application filed Jul 16, 1896. (No Model.) 4 Sheets8heet 3.

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m1. 628,307. Patented July-4, I899. I

's. FYFE.

MACHINE FDR LABELING BOTTLES, 8m.

(Application filed July 16, 159B.) (-Nu Mpdeh), Sheets-Shem 4.

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' provided for the bottles or other'articles to I U-NITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.SAMUEL EYrE, or MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, ASSIGNOR or. TWENTY-ONE FORTI-ETHS TO WALTER CHAMBERLAIN PEAoooK, or SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR LABELI NG BOTTLES, 84c.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,307, dated July}, 1899.

application filedJnlylG, 1898. Serial no.6sa124. (N mode To all whom it may concerns Be it known that I, SAMUEL FYFE, plumber and gas-fitter, a subject of the'Queen of Great Britain, residing at No. to Nott street, Port Melbourne, in the British Colony of Victoria, have invented an Improved Labeling Machine Principally Useful for Labeling Bottles, (for which I have applied for a patent in Victoria, No. 15,022, dated the 8th day of March, 1898,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention has been devised in order to provide a machine which will enable bottles and other articles to be labeled more expeditiously and in a cleaner manner than is practicable by hand. A suitable support is be labeled, and the labels which are to be applied theretoare placed in piles upon or in any convenient holder orsupport.

The essential feature of-this invention con sists in the use of a plate or disk'adapted for carrying and applying the label, which plate or disk is so constructed and'operated as that it will pass underneath and contact with a piece of flannel or other absorbent material dipping into orotherwise kept moistened with water or other suitable liquid. By this means the surface of the plate will .be sufficiently moistened to cause it toadhere to the uppermost of the pile of labels and to carry said label over a roller adapted to apply a layer 'of adhesive material to it, after which said plate will apply the label to the surface of the bottle or other article and subsequently contact with the water or other liquid supply,

and so on throughout another operation.

Various modifications may be made-in a machine ofv this character in order to'adapt it for labeling dilferent articles. This is more particularly the case with thelabel carrying and applying plate or disk, as will be readily understood on reference to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 represents aperspective View of a labeling-machine constructed according to this invention and showing it as adapted for applying labels to" bottles or other articles having a round surface' 1 Fig. 2 .is a'plan of Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the various steps in the operation and 9 are various views illustrating the construetion of the label carrying and applying plate used in this modification of the machine. Figs. 10 and 11 are plans illustrating the operation of a modified form of label carrying and applying plate. Figs. 12 and 13 are similar views illustrating still another modification of said plate.

The same letters of referenceindicate the same or corresponding parts throughout the drawings. I v 4 Referring first to Figs. 1 to 4,A represents the label carrying and applying plate or disk above referred to, while B represents a bottle or other article to which one of the pile of labels 0 is to be applied, said article being placed by hand or otherwise upon a suitable supportsuch, for instance, as the shelf b whilethelabels O are placed in a pile at the opposite end of the machine and are retained in position by. means of projecting pins 0, whose inner surfaces are barbed downward,

as shown to an exaggerated degree in Fig. 4*,

in order to prevent more than one label at a time being removed by the plate or disk A. This label carrying and applying plate or disk "may, if preferred, be faced with rubber. It is pivotally mounted. in the upper ends. of

-a-pair 'of arms D, adapted to be operatedby a an 'antifriction-roller a adapted to work in guides E E, cut in or secured to one of the side bars '13 of the frame of thefmachine. These guides E E are fitted with spring points or switches e e for the purpose here inafter described. I

G represents aieceptacle containing water or other liquid and having a piece of flannel Fig. 3.

g or other absorbent material dipping into it and hanging overthe side for the purpose of moistening the face of the plate or disk A.

H represents a roller arranged to rotate partially within a receptacle h, containing paste or other adhesive composition and which is placed in such a position that the plate or disk A in traveling toward the bottle or other article to be labeled will cause the label carried by it to contact with said roller, whereby a thin even layer of the adhesive composition will be applied to the back of the label. A small wire or wires 72.,extending across the roller H, serves to prevent said label adhering thereto and is adapted to fit within a small groove 7L2, cut for the purpose in the surface of said roller, which latter is mounted in spring-supports lbs to allow it to give, it required, when the plate A is passing over it.

In cases where the article to be labeled has a flat surface the plate or disk A can be made in one flat piece; but when bottles or other articles which are not flat have to be labeled then the plate or disk A is made in halves, and the bearings a, in which the pivots a of each half of said plate or disk are mounted, have to be pivoted upon the ends of the arms 1), small spiral springs a being used for the purpose of normally holding the two halves of the plate or disk A in one plane. Projecting tongues a on each half of the plate or disk retain the halves in one plane while said plate is being moved toward the article to be labeled, while stops a on the ends of the arms D hold the bearin gs a, and therefore the two halves of the plate or disk A, in their normal position while moving away from said article.

I I represent two springuides, which are arranged on either side of the machine alongside of the article to be labeled, while i irepresent two downward] y-proj ectin g pins on the bearings or sleeves a, carrying the disk or plate A. These pins when said plate is being moved toward the article to be labeled pass on the outside of the spring-guides I; but when said plate or disk has reached the end of its stroke they engage with .the inner sides of said guides, and thus serve to keep the two halves of said disk apart for ashort distance, as hereinafter described. If preferred, these pins it might be mounted direct upon each half of the plate A and be arranged to engage with springs I, supported nearer the center of said plate. By this means a more direct and steadier action is obtained than is possible where the effect is transmitted to the plate from the opposite side of its pivotal support.

The operation of this improved labelingmachine will be understood by reference to In the position marked 1 in said figu re the plate or disk A is supposedto be traveling away from the article to be labeled and the crank-arm a is passing along the lower guide E, so that the face of said plate or disk will be uppermost, and consequently will be moistened by coming in contact with the piece of absorbent material 5 depending from'the reservoir G. As the arms D continue to carry the plate or disk A away from the article to be labeled said crank-arm a will pass the spring point or switch 6, which will rise to allow of said passage, but will then return to' the position indicated in Fig. 3. It will be noticed that the guide E gradually rises toward the pile of labels C. Consequently the arm a will be raised and the disk or plateA will be turned on its pivots into its vertical position, with its moistened face toward the labels. When this moistened face is brought in contact with the uppermost label, the latter will be caused to adhere to it, so that on the return movement of, the plate A this label will be removed from the rest of the pile and will be carried with it. When the plate A has been withdrawn a sufficient distance from the pile C to allow it to be turned over Without touching them, the crank-arm (t enters a recess 6 at the commencement of the upper guide E and is arrested sufficiently to turn the plate or disk A over, so that the facc carrying the label will be downward. The plate or disk A will now be moved toward the position indicated by 3. The crank-arm a being switched into the guide E by the springpoint e will hold the plate face downward until it has passed over the paste-applying roller II, whereby the back of the label will be coated with adhesive material. As soon as the plate or disk .A is clear of the roller II the crank-arm a will contact with a downwardly-sloping part c of the guide E and will be forced backward and downward until the plate or disk A has been turned into its vertical position, with its face toward the article to which the label is to be applied. At about this stage the crank-arm a will pass the spring-switch e. The plate or disk A is then moved toward the bottle or other article to be labeled until the center of it contacts with the surface of said article. As the arms D continue to force the plate or disk A against such article, its two halves will be caused to open against the resistance of the springs a, the effect being that they will slide over the surface of the label and will press it firmly and evenly onto the surface of the article until they are quite clear of its outer edge. They will then bein the position indicated in Fig. 2, and the pins 1' will have passed around the ends of the spring-guides I. On the return movement of the plate or disk A away from the bottle or other article B these pins will bear against the inner surfaces of said spring-guides and will thus hold the two halves of the plate or disk A out of contact with the label until said plate is entirely clear of said label, when they will allow the springs a to close the two halves of the plate together again, when the projecting fingers (L on each half will by engaging with the opposite half hold the plate in one plane, as before. As the plate or disk A is moved away IIO from the bottle or other article B the crankarm a will enter a recess 6 at the commence ment of the lower guide E and will thus turn the plate A over into its horizontal position, with its face uppermost. The switch 8 will then guide said crank-arm into the lower guide E, whereby the plate will be held in that position until it has again passed under the absorbent material g, and thus commences a fresh operation.

The machine above described is adapted for applying one label at a time to a bottle or other article. By duplicating the parts it can be used for placing a label on opposite sides of an article, as will be readily understood on reference to Figs. 5 and 6. These views show substantially an identical machine to that illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, but adapted for placing a label on the two ends of a jam-tin, for instance. It will be noticed that in this arrangement two plates A A are shown, each carried by pivoted arms D, connected to a treadle d, whereby said arms may be simultaneously-moved toward the article to be labeled, springs d being used, as before, for moving said arms, and therefore the plates A, back toward the piles of labels O.

In cases where the surface to be labeled is flat-as, for instance, the ends of a jam-tin the label carrying and applying plates or disks A need not be made in halves, asillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2; but provision is preferably made for assisting the withdrawal of the labels from said plates, especially in cases where there are inequalities in the surface to which the label is to be applied. This may be accomplished by using small spring-plungers a projecting through openings in the plates and carried by levers a projecting at the ends opposite said plungers beyond the plates A. Small spiral springs a are arranged around the pin or spindle a upon which said plunger-levers are f ulcrumed, and tend to draw back said plungers into the body of the plate A, at the same time moving the outer ends of the levers a into a position slightly in advance of said plates.

A thin spring-shield J is supported upon the frame of the machine adjacent to the part of the article to be labeled and is cut away in the center, as illustrated atj in Fig. 7, to allow the passage of the label carrying and applying plate or disk A through it.

The operation of moistening the surface of the plate or disk A, picking up a label 0, and passing it over the surface of the paste-applying rollers H is identically the same as above described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3. The only difference in the operation of this modification of the invention is when the plates A are brought into contact with the article to be labeled. The effect of this is that the spring-shields J are bent or forced slightlyinward owing to the plungers a coming in contact with the surface of the article. As the plate A is withdrawn the shield J forces back the ends of the levers a, thus projecting the plungers a and thereby pushing the label away from said plate and holding it temporarily against the tin or other article until the plate is drawn out of contact therewith. These plungers need not be employed where the adhesion between the labels and the surfaces to which they are to be applied is sufficient to withstand the pull on the label when the plate is being withdrawn.

In cases where it is required to apply labels to the ends of an article so that they extend across the face or end thereof and partly down the sides it is necessary to use a plate constructed as illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11. In this modification the central part A of the plate is cutout to correspond with the shape of the lid or other article over which the label is to be applied. This central part A is mounted so that it can he slid back against the resistance of a spring or springs a, so that whenthe plate A A, carrying a label, is brought in contact with the article to which such label is to be suppliedthe central part A will come in contact therewith and will hold the major portion of the label in position, While the continued movement of the other part or parts A of the plate will bend the rest of the label over the edge of the article and will cause it to adhere to the sides.

It is necessary that the parts A of the label-carrier shall be moved back out of contact with the label on the return stroke. For this purpose they are pivoted, as indicated at a to the cranked spindle a, used for supporting and operating the plate A A, and their outer ends are fitted with pins adapted to engage with springs, such as I,arranged and operating substantially as above described by reference to Figs. 1 to 3.

In the modification of the label carrying and applying plate A illustrated in Figs. 12 and 13 it is shown as made of a piece of flexible spring-plate adapted to be folded around the bottle or other article on coming in contact therewith, the spring a being used, if found necessary, to assist in straightening the spring-plate after each operation.

It will bereadily understood that the contrivances above described may be used for applying almost any desired shape of label to almost any desired size or form of receptacle or package, the size and shape of the label carrying and applying plate A being made to correspond with the size and shape of the labels.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner thesame is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. In a labeling-machine, thecombination of a label-holder, a label-applying device, means for applying moisture thereto, means for reciprocating and turning the label-applying device, and means for applying an adhesive material to the side of the label opposite to that to which moisture was applied, as set forth. Y

2. In a labeling-machine, the combination of a label-holder, a label-applying device, means for applying moisture to one side of said device in its travel, means for turning said device upon edge to bring it against a label and then reversingit to bring the opposite face of the label in contact with an adhesive-applying device, as set forth.

3. In a labeling-machine a label carrying and applying plate pivotally mount-ed upon a support and having a crank-arm projecting from its pivot in combination with guides whereby said plate is turned bodily over completely so as to bring its upper face downward on its forward and backward travel substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

4. In a labeling-machine an oscillating, reversible label carrying and applying plate A made in two halves which are normally held in one plane by springs or otherwise but which are free to open or move apart on comingin contact with the bottle or other article having a convex faceto be labeled and means for reversing said plate substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

5. In a labeling-machine a label carrying and applying plate made in halves and fitted with projecting tongues to hold said halves in one plane while the plate is traveling in one direction, together with stops to eifect the same purpose when said plate is traveling in the opposite direction substantiallyas and for the purposes herein described.

6. In a labeling-machine a label carrying and applying plate a liquid-receptacle with a depending piece of flannel or other absorbent material and a roller supplied with paste or other adhesive composition all combined and arranged substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

7. In a labeling-machine, a label carrying and applying plate, pivoted levers carried by said plate, plungers carried by said pivoted levers and adapted to be projected from the surface of said label carrying and applying plate on its withdrawal from the article to be labeled, substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

8. In alabeling-machine the combination with a roller for applying adhesive composition to a label, of a wire projecting across and fitting into a groove in said roller substantially as and for the purposes herein described.

9. In a labeling-machine, the combination with a label carrying and applying device, in sections, of springs at opposite sides of the machine, and projections on the said device for engaging said springs to hold the said device in either of its two positions, as set forth.

10. In a labeling-machine, a label carrying and applying plate having a central portion arranged to slide backward and a spring arranged at the back of said central portion, whereby the latter may slide back against the resistance of said spring while the rest of the plate folds down the outer parts of the label over the edge of the article being labeled.

SAMUEL FYFE.

W itnesses EDWARD WATERs, EDWARD WATERS, Jr. 

